COLUMBIA, Mo. — John Calipari reached a historic coaching milestone Saturday as Arkansas took Missouri into overtime and came away with an 88-84 win at Mizzou Arena.
The victory marked the 900th career win for Calipari, placing him among the winningest coaches in men’s Division I basketball history.
With the result, Arkansas improved to 23-8 overall and 13-5 in SEC play while continuing to build up a head of going into next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.
Calipari became just the fifth coach in Division I history to reach 900 wins. He joined former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, St. John’s coach Rick Pitino and former Kansas and North Carolina coach Roy Williams in that group.
Trevon Brazile delivered the decisive moment in overtime. The forward knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to give the Razorbacks the lead for good.
Free throws by Malique Ewin and Meleek Thomas during the final seconds helped the Hogs hold off Missouri and secure the road victory.
Thomas leads Arkansas scoring effort
Meleek Thomas paced the Razorbacks offense with a career high-tying 28 points. The guard was especially effective from long range, hitting five of six shots from beyond the arc.
Thomas also handled extra ball-handling responsibilities with Arkansas missing its points and assists leader.
Star freshman Darius Acuff did not play against Missouri as he rested a nagging ankle injury before postseason play. Calipari told ESPN’s Seth Greenberg that the decision was made to give Acuff time to recover before tournament action begins.
Without Acuff on the floor, D.J. Wagner and Thomas shared the primary playmaking duties.
Wagner finished with 10 points and led the team with five assists, helping keep the Arkansas offense steady throughout the contest.
Razorbacks build early lead
Arkansas started the afternoon strong and built a double-digit advantage in the first half.
The Hogs led by as many as 15 points during the opening period while controlling the pace on both ends of the floor.
However, Missouri responded late before halftime. The Tigers made their final three field goals of the half to cut into the Arkansas lead.
When the teams headed to the locker room, the Razorbacks still held a narrow 39-36 advantage.
Early foul trouble also affected Arkansas in the first half. Both Nick Pringle and Malique Ewin picked up two fouls, forcing the coaching staff to adjust its frontcourt rotation.
With both big men sitting for stretches, Missouri used the opportunity to trim the deficit and stay within reach before halftime.
Missouri rallies in second half
Missouri came out aggressively after the break and eventually grabbed its first lead of the day.
With 16:42 remaining, Mark Mitchell connected with Shawn Phillips on an alley-oop dunk that gave the Tigers a 45-44 edge and prompted Calipari to call a timeout.
From that point forward, the teams exchanged baskets throughout much of the second half.
The loudest moment inside Mizzou Arena came with 11:30 remaining when Missouri’s Jayden Stone recorded a steal and finished with a slam dunk to give the Tigers a 58-57 lead.
Arkansas answered shortly after when Missouri entered a cold shooting stretch. The Tigers missed six of seven shots during a span of nearly four minutes.
During that same stretch, the Razorbacks made four of their five attempts. The sequence ended with an Ewin put-back dunk that restored the lead for Arkansas.
Later, a layup by Barrett tied the game at 65-65 and kept the contest tight heading into the closing minutes.
Brazile’s shot seals overtime victory
Missouri forced overtime behind a late push from Mark Mitchell.
Mitchell scored the Tigers’ final five points of regulation, including an and-one with 50 seconds remaining that briefly put Missouri ahead by one point.
Thomas answered moments later by hitting a free throw with 31 seconds left to even the score.
Missouri had a chance to win in the closing seconds of regulation, but Barrett missed a layup at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Ewin provided an important spark when he hit a 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining to give Arkansas an 81-77 lead.
The shot was notable because it marked Ewin’s first 3-pointer since Jan. 10 and only his fourth attempt from long distance this season.
Missouri answered with a quick 4-0 run after a timeout to tie the score again at 81-81.
That set the stage for Brazile’s decisive moment.
With under a minute remaining, Brazile connected from beyond the arc to give the Razorbacks the lead.
Arkansas then closed the game at the free-throw line as Ewin and Thomas made shots during the final 10 seconds.
The victory keeps the Hogs firmly in the mix for a top seed in the SEC Tournament.
Arkansas already secured a double-bye after its 105-85 win over Texas earlier in the week, meaning the team will open play in Friday’s quarterfinals.
The Razorbacks could earn the No. 2 seed if Alabama loses to Auburn. If Alabama wins that game, Arkansas would enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed because of its head-to-head loss to the Crimson Tide.
Either way, Saturday’s overtime win gave Calipari a historic milestone while sending the Hogs into postseason play with another close victory.
